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First White Spaces Access Point Gives Grandma the Internet

2011-04-20 09:33 by
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A Houston restaurant worker is the first user of a prototype wireless access point using low frequency signals in the so-called White Spaces between unused UHF digital TV signals.

The access point was set up in the home of 48-year-old Leticia Aguirre, described as a working grandmother and homeowner, who had never had a reliable Internet connection before the White Spaces spectrum created one.

Widely but wrongly dubbed "Super Wi-Fi," these lower frequencies can reach further and penetrate buildings more easily than standard Wi-Fi radios, which implement the IEEE 802.11 specification. Wi-Fi runs in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.

The prototype access point was developed by Rice University researchers with a grant from the National Science Foundation, in conjunction with a Houston non-profit group, Technology For All (TFA). The NSF wants to develop White Spaces radio capability as part of an open source project to bring wireless broadband affordably to under-served areas, according to Rice's Edward Knightly, a professor in electrical and computer engineering.

Read more -here-

 

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